Bobble Hats & Sleds
by banovice
Summary: "And like any other little boy of his age, Tom Fletcher squealed to his heart's content when he saw the glistening blanket of white that magically appeared outside of his bedroom window." Kid!Flones
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Jesus Christ how do I begin... I'm so scared of screwing this whole thing up so sorry if this just doesn't do good. There has to be a first time for everything I guess! (If you can't tell i have never actually written anything and posted it anywhere public, except for that one time but it was het :/) Hope it's not too OOC. I tend to do that loads.**

**Disclaimer: I own EVERYTHING ;) BUT the boys :( Hope you don't find it as rubbish as I do, errrk.**

**P.S: when i use the word 'unfit' in this story, i mean as in the opposite of athletic, not unfit as in not attractive. i would have just used unathletic, but according to the dictionary on my computer there is no such word. and i can't stand to see that red squiggly line. just to clear things up. carry on~**

Bobble Hats & Sleds - Chapter 1

It was the day of the first snowfall, also known as the day where christmas tunes would start to play a little louder, stores would decrease their sales a little lower, and the parents of little boys and little girls' wallets get a little lighter.

And like any other little boy of his age, Tom Fletcher squealed to his heart's content when he saw the glistening blanket of white that magically appeared outside of his bedroom window. He plastered his little hands against his bedroom window, marveling at the sheer white coating of dust outside as he sang "Mummy! Daddy! The snow's been!".

After countless tugging of arms and impatient stamping of boot covered feet, Tom and his parents finally reached their local park, which was covered with joyful, energetic children everywhere - which was definitely not what Tom had expected, or wanted.

Ever since the sudden influx of people moving in to the newly improved town, the streets have abruptly been littered with many more people, which meant many more children too. Tom frowned slightly at the sight. He sometimes had a bit of trouble with making friends. He didn't like change.

Ms. Fletcher sensed Tom's discomfort and kneeled down in front of her disappointed son. "Hey Tommy," She turned Tom's head to face her with her hand. "I know you don't like this, but you have to share the park with the other kids. I bet all those children are lovely. You might make some new friends there too. Daddy and I didn't walk with you all the way over here for nothing, right?" She whispered, an encouraging smile upon her face as she tugged the sides of his bobble hat over his forehead. The pom pom on top of Tom's hat shook up and down as he nodded. He obeyed his mum's orders and walked towards the crowd of kids, dragging his wooden sled with a frayed piece of rope behind him.

Tom trudged his way slowly up the snow covered hill to test out his new sled. Well, not exactly new, his cousin gave it to him when he got a new plastic one, which came with stickers you could decorate it with. Tom didn't even know you could make sleds become such a big deal. Once he reached the top of the hill Tom felt a sense of pride. He had specifically picked the one hill where most of the kids ventured away from, as it was a long way up for seven year olds like Tom. And children's short attention spans didn't help either, as it would have at least took Tom ten minutes to climb that hill, and he wasn't the most unfit seven year old boy out there. Tom placed his sled onto the snow, crouching down and adjusting it so that he had a clear space to slow down and stop on.

Just as Tom was about to sit down and test his sled, a sudden gust of cold wind blew, causing Tom's vibrantly striped blue and green hat to fly off his head and away with the wind. "My hat!" Tom chased after the bright article of clothing, dropping the piece of rope he clutched with his hand, leaving his sled unattended without a thought. Tom's hat swooped and flew over children's little heads, like a bird who had regained it's sense of flight. Tom pushed through the small amount of children residing on the hill, mumbling a few 'excuse me' and 'sorry''s here and there, keeping his eyes on his runaway hat. After a few minutes of flying, the hat decided to take a rest. On a certain boy's face.

**hope that didn't disappoint, Danny will soon be incorporated in the story, please feel free to review or comment, i won't leave you guys i swear i'm writing up chapter two right now, i tend to drag on a lot in my writing and when speaking, goodbye.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I forgot to tell you about something to do with the plot, i made Danny a little older/more mature than Tom in this story, hope you don't mind. i know that in real life Tom is the oldest though. i didn't put their actual ages in, so it is up to the reader/you to decide.**

**Hopefully longer than the last chapter. Disclaimer: I anti-claim anything you think I own. Unfortunately I don't own any persons in this typing words thing i seem to be doing. as much as i would like to :(**

**P.S: I changed my username because my friend was about to search up and find this story to probably use as blackmail material. not much of a friend really. I used to be happyeverdisaster, if you're wondering. It's now banovice. (which is what Harry was telling Tom about in Memory Lane 2013 - On The Road part 3 i think. banana novice it means.) carry on~**

Bobble Hats & Sleds - Chapter 2

The brightly coloured hat landed smack on a boy's face, much to Tom's dismay. Tom ran up to the shaking boy, panic stricken.

"I'm so sorry! My hat flew off my head and... I'm sorry!" Tom stammered, forgetting that the boy couldn't see his embarrassed face. But fortunately, it didn't take long for Tom to realize that the boy was trembling - with laughter.

Tom recovered from the initial state of shock and presented a lopsided smile as he pulled his hat off, revealing the boy's face.

Tom immediately noticed the boy's bright blue eyes. They reminded him of the blue Thomas The Tank Engine rug his aunt bought him for his birthday. The boy had dark, brown hair peeking out from his very own bobble hat, twisted into a curly fashion. "It's okay. My mum calls me Daniel, but you can call me Danny!".

Tom smiled even wider at Danny's cheery attitude. "I'm Tom.". "Well, Tom, here's your hat!" Danny giggled, snatching the hat from Tom's mitten covered hands. He held it out, admiring it, eventually saying "Our hats match!". Tom looked up at Danny's coincidentally blue and _red_ striped bobble hat. Indeed did they match. "Maybe we got them from the same store. My mum picked out mine." "Mine too!".

Danny looked blankly at the hat for a little while longer before Tom interrupted the silence. "Can I get my hat back now?" He asked, pointing at the blue and green article of clothing, still being held by Danny.

A cheeky grin erupted on Danny's previously unresponsive face. "Okay..." He slowly put the hat back on Tom's head, then proceeded to pull down on it. Hard. Enough for the hat to cover about half of Tom's face.

Danny instantly ran off, a hand covering his grinning mouth, trying to stop the chorus of laughter to flare up into a full out giggling fit.

"Hey!" Tom shouted, his eyes still covered by the damp hat, pulled over his eyes and halfway over his nose. He stumbled around slightly, resembling Winnie The Pooh before pulling up the frizzy material to his forehead, allowing his eyes to function again.

"I'm going to get you Danny!" Tom ran around aimlessly, trying to regain all his knowledge about the area and formulate a really clever plan to do something funny to Danny, like in the countless online videos he saw his older cousins watch during family reunions.

But the classic giggles of Danny's ruffling behind the suspicious looking pile of snow and moss gave his location away to Tom there and then. Tom was pretty sure in the span of time he's gotten to know him, Danny laughs more than he speaks.

Tom ran up to a nearby bush, then another, and another, making lengthy stops between bushes, trying to be as stealthy as possible, approaching the unsuspecting Danny. Danny's fits of after-funny-event laughter was soon replaced by surprised yells once he had noticed Tom launching his heavily winter gear clothed body towards his.

Tom charged full speed ahead, tackling Danny towards the soft white ground. He flipped Danny's body to face his, covering his mouth with his hand before he could utter a single word.

Using his other hand, Tom pulled the edge of Danny's very own hat down to the slope of his freckly nose, before removing his hand from his mouth. "There, now you know how I feel." Tom remarked, sitting back as Danny sat up inches away from him, then using one hand lifting the fabric up a little, giving Tom the most doe eyed, adorable, innocent look.

"Okay okay I'm sorry Danny!" Tom suddenly trembled, grabbing unaware Danny into his arms; Danny still shocked as Tom buried his face into the shoulder of his clammy jacket that his nan gave him last christmas. Danny placed a caring hand on Tom's shaky back, still not even able to comprehend what had just happened. "Tom, it was a joke, calm down. Please Tommy, don't be upset now." Danny whispered, rubbing Tom's back soothingly.

**crap i didn't intentionally make it that sad, so sorry. but if you do like that kinda stuff, i take back what i said earlier. just experimenting. i promise there will be more happiness in the next chapter and sleds shall be incorporated more as it is in the title of the story (hinthint). yeah so Danny is in the story now, i'm really fond of his laugh so that will explain the many times he laughs in the story. and i imagine he can pull a very convincing innocent face too.**

**oh, here's a note! i also have a AO3 account under the username banovice, and i usually post chapters earlier over there than on since you can upload it immedietly over there, instead of having to wait before it posts. so if any of you are interested in reading this early (which i doubt you are), go take a lookie over there.**

**feel free to leave comments or ideas that i might include in the story. you the readers can help sculpt and shape the story. yeah, that has a nice ring to it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: hello again! thank you all so much for the reviews. they are super positive, which is great but seriously, if there is something i'm doing that you don't like or is just wrong, let me know or else i'll just skim over or completely ignore it.**

**SONG OF THE PIECE (i might make this into a thing - it's the song i play on repeat when i write certain pieces, it might get you into the mood i was in when writing specific things for more effective-ness): 12 Fingers - Young The Giant**

**Disclaimer: If it was only possible to own such talent packages...**

**LeliaTheGalaxyDefender: hey! thanks for the comment! guess that means i'm off to a good start huh?**

**kbeto: hell yeah! of course i'll heed yo words man. you're one of the jml writers who got me to do this in the first place! congrats on your talent ^_^**

**i hope getting lost is a good thing to you, when i get lost i lose focus and just malfuntion and go blehrfhafh. and don't worry! i'm pretty sure Tom can't stay too sad for too long, he's got a new friend! ;)**

**Galaxy-Defending-Hopeful: OH MY GOD! thank you so much! The Child Minder is so good like seriously adorable and you're saying that mine is? holy crap that is a huge compliment.**

**lozzigurl: hey! enjoyed your bobble hat comment, searching up 'types of hats' really did come into good use huh? so... Flones sledging together? hmmm... trying to create your own foreshadow for me are you...? well you're pretty good at it ;)**

Bobble Hats & Sleds - Chapter 3

Tom shrugged off the embrace carefully, as if Danny was made of old porcelain. He balled up his hands, rubbing one of his red ringed eyes roughly.

"So you forgive me Danny?" He asked, his head tilted slightly.

"Yeah, it's okay. I was just trying to make a joke. Maybe it wasn't as good as I thought." Danny shrugged, scratching his hat covered head with a finger.

"I think your jokes are funny! Do you know any jokes? I know one my dad told me! You wanna hear it?" Tom beamed, recovering quickly from the earlier incident.

"Okay!" Danny exclaimed, jumping up from the snow and offering a hand to Tom, who took it eagerly.

Danny tried tugging Tom up, but using a sudden jet of little kiddy strength, he was able to pull Tom up. But since he was so extraordinarily strong (which is one of the benefits of being a 'big boy' like himself), he managed to pull so hard that he himself fall back down on his back into the snow, dragging the unlucky little boy with him.

The two boys landed on the snow with a soft thud, their tummies facing the clouded sky . They looked blankly up at the overlooking tree, only a few leaves dangling on branches that looked more like twigs, trying to figure out something to say to fill up the silence.

"Tom, what was that joke you wanted to tell me again?".

"Where do library books like to sleep?" Tom asked in a monotone voice, immediately following Danny's orders. Danny turned his head and rested it on the soggy snow, facing Tom's doe brown eyes.

"Umm..." Danny said out loud, trying to coddle up everything he knew to solve the mystery. Danny forced himself to think, if he gets the joke then he could impress Tom!

Danny had a look of concentration on his face, twiddling his fingers, a habit he never seemed to get rid of. After just a few seconds of trying, Danny huffed out a "I don't know.", clearly disappointed in himself.

"Under their covers..." Tom said in a voice that reminded of his mum when he was having a bad day at school.

Tom looked at Danny, giving him a small smile. Danny responded with a even bigger smile, giggling. The contagiousness of laughter quickly caught on, and soon enough both of the boys were laughing, lying on the soft snow ground side by side, looking into each other's eyes, filled with youth and love.

"You tell good jokes too." Danny complimented, as the laughing and giggling had subsided.

"Thank you." Tom smiled, bowing his head down for a head-only-mini bow. Well, at least as much as he could when laying his head on snowy ground.

"I'm sorry I pulled you down here." Danny frowned a little, looking down at his snow-sludge-substance covered boots.

"It's okay. It was an accident. But we're even now, right?" Tom asked, eager to cheer Danny back up again.

Cheer him up enough to get him to smile, even to laugh. Tom liked listening to his laugh, he thought that it sounded very cool with his weird accent. He's never heard of it, everyone sounds like him where he lives. Which is very boring after a while. Maybe Danny is going to live here too! Then there will be a lot of people who will speak like him!

"Yeah, I guess so." Danny whispered, letting a smile appear on his face again.

Tom smiled back. "But next time, I'll be the one to pull you up.".

**A/N: Oh no! I didn't incorporate sleds! I'm so sorry I just suddenly decided that a cute (don't know if it turned out that way though) Flones conversation was needed. Constructive criticism appreciated! there is always room for improvement. And this chapter looked a bit like a filler to me. and it's quite short. sorrysorrysorrysorry.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:**

**went a bit PeterPan!Danny towards the end because I've been watching videos of those face actors in disneyland playing Peter and they are just so fcirg adorable. I'm not even sure if there is such a thing as PeterPan!Danny, but can we make it a thing? He's my favorite disney prince. But this portrayal of Peter Pan isn't accurate, because Danny mentions pirates here and Peter Pan hates pirates. And I don't think Danny would act like Peter Pan is now, if he were Peter Pan. Hope you get the gist of whatever the heck I was babbling about.**

**Song(s) of the Piece: **

**Everything Has Changed - Taylor Swift (this is like the only song i listen to by her) ft. Ed Sheeran (that's my excuse)**

**No Worries - McFly**

**You've Got A Friend - McFly**

**Get Over You - McFly**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Wish I did though. I tried to think of something witty to say but after writing all of that under this, my brain has just gone kinda dead. Sorry.**

Bobble Hats & Sleds - Chapter 4

"So what should we do now?" Tom asked, trudging through the snow slush mixture, hand in hand with his new (and possibly best. Tom's deliberating like a reality show judge.) friend.

"I don't know, you're the one with the cool jokes and things." Danny shrugged, kicking at the thin layer of icy snow as if it were a pebble on the pavement.

"Well, what do you do when it snows?" Tom pondered out loud, thinking well over his age while Danny swung Tom and his arms back and forth in rhythm to the steps they took as they walked aimlessly around the white frozen park.

"I go sledding with my sister Vicky, she shares the sled with my mum while I ride with my dad. We have races in the park where I used to live, but sometimes my dad says we have to let Vicky and mum win. It's really fun. I wanted to bring my sled but Vicky's sled broke so mum made me lend mine to her. But I don't mind, I like Vicky." Danny exclaimed, his voice animated, filled with excitement and wonder as he told his tale.

Tom reminded himself to make sure to get Danny to tell him more stories, he was a very good storyteller, even when the story (he had to admit) was a little boring he managed to change it into something spectacular. Tom swore it was magic.

"I've got a sled too! It used to be my cousin's, but he got a brand new sled so he gave me his old one because he doesn't need it anymore." Tom chimed, wanting to share an anecdote just like Danny did.

"I came here because my dad said I could go do a test run, my cousin says that it goes super fast. Like this!" Tom raised his mitten covered hand above his head in the air and swooped it down 'super fast', causing a slight gust of wind to blow, making the strands of Danny's hair peeking out of his blue and red striped bobble hat to rise and fall.

"Really? Can I test your new sled out with you then? That sounds fun!" Danny marveled, suddenly becoming excited at the though of being able to fulfill his 'what you do when it snows' tradition for another snowy time.

"Sure! We're going to have so much fun!" Tom giggled, his excitement matching up with Danny's.

"But... Tom?" Danny inquired, after the excitement level died down a notch.

"Yes Danny?"

"Where's your sled?" Tom's eyes widened when he realized - he had no idea.

"I-I don't know... I remember I put it on the snow next to the hill, then my hat flew off and I ran after it." Tom trembled, starting to worry.

"Hey! Then we'll go on an adventure and find it! We can be like pirates! Searchin' for treasure!" Danny cheered, changing Tom's mood drastically as he marched on forward with a wide grin, taking the lead.

"...I remember your hat hit my face right before you found it, and I remember that you ran over to me from over... there." Danny thought out loud, pointing his index finger at a little corner of the park that seemed vaguely familiar to Tom.

"So your sled is probably over there." Danny explained, turning his head around to face the immersed Tom, visibly paying attention to every little detail and word Danny said. Danny smiled, feeling a sense of pride at being the leader, and Tom being able to trust him so quickly, especially under the first impressions he made of him.

"Well, come on! we haven't got all day, have we?" Danny chuckled with that classic smile of his that Tom admired, as he stuck his gloved right hand out behind him, giving Tom a heartwarming smile.

Tom returned the smile with one of his own, and happily stepped forward towards Danny, reaching out his own gloved hand and grabbing Danny's hand tight. Danny returned the favour with a reassuring squeeze of his hand as he looked into Tom's doe brown eyes, the colour reminding him of the chocolate in easter eggs.

"You've got a funny dimple." Danny chortled out of the blue, eyes wide as he let his finger wander around Tom's face and poke the one dimple there lightly. This caused Tom to let out a little titter, trying to hold in a laugh as he felt Danny's fuzzy mitten touch the curve of his dimple.

"T-Thank you." Tom stuttered, trying to keep his giggles in as he put his hand over his mouth, his eyes squinting, making it look like he was laughing, just without the sounds. But the sounds of laughter was much more impressive than just the look, and as soon as Danny pushed away Tom's hand, the two boys began one another one of their many fits laughter once again.

"Well let's go on an adventure! We're losing time Tommy! Let's go!" Danny rejoiced, still laughing along with Tom as they set off for the venturesome deed of finding Tom's sled.

That didn't sound smooth like how Danny talks. Yeah, I agree with Tom. Danny's a much better storyteller. Maybe it is magic after all.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey! I'm just going to keep this short - I've got a poll on my author profile thing. It's about what I should work on, and since you are a major role in this writing journey, I'm giving you the chance to choose. Go check it out if you want.**

Bobble Hats & Sleds - Chapter 5

After a few minutes of following Danny, which just seemed like confident aimless walking, Tom had started to question Danny's knowledge on where his sled was. But Tom couldn't bare dampening Danny's cheery attitude, so he pushed it to the furthest corner of his mind and distracted himself with the beautiful scenery, which reminded him of the pretty paintings his mum always tried to convince his dad to buy to put in their house.

Danny had taken lead once again and was marching forward at a steady pace, a grin evident on his face. Once in a while, he would find something that would catch his eye, such as a bird on a tree branch, or a squirrel hastily climbing up a tree. Due to Danny's short attention span, Tom would watch Danny dart around to park to somehow try to get involved with all these little happenings around him. Watching some other children having a snowball fight, counting the rings inside a dead tree stump to try and work out the tree's age, picking up dead twigs off the snowy ground to see if they made good swords for Tom and him to protect themselves from all the evil goblins and trolls they may encounter on their epic treasure hunt, you name it - Danny's done it. And even though such scenes made Tom giggle or made his cheeks feel like a fireplace as he watched Danny from afar, Tom like all children of their age soon grew restless from all the walking and the waiting. Wasn't this supposed to be an exciting adventure?

"Danny... Are you sure we're going the right way?" Tom hesitantly asked as he ran forward to catch up with Danny so that he could walk next to him at the same pace, who was currently trying to write something in the thick snow with a rather frail and weak looking twig, his tongue unconsciously poking out slightly as he stabbed some intricate formation of letters only he could understand. Danny suddenly sat down on the wet snow in relief after completing his complex masterpiece. Tom squatted down next to smiling Danny, looking at him, expecting an explanation.

"Oh! You wanna see what I wrote?" Danny beamed at Tom with kiddie excitement.

"Okay! What is it?"

Danny grabbed Tom's hand and pulled him up carefully (he didn't want to have Tom fall and tell him a joke again. Tom's jokes were good... it's just that Danny never really understood them. Gets him frustrated sometimes, and he can't let Tom see him like that.) off the snow and onto his feet.

"There. Can you read it?"

Tom glanced at the rough tracings on the snow, trying to decipher the arrangement of letters laid in front of him and a weird scribble at the end, carved in the icy snow.

"T-Tom... and Danny?"

"And is that a... a skull and crossbones?"

"Yeah! Like those ones on the pirate flags! I drew it because we're pirates, and all real pirates have one of those! We just had to have one!"

Danny jumped up in the air, ecstatic as Tom smiled at him, proud of his achievement.

"You like it?" Danny grinned, tugging on Tom's sleeve.

"Yeah, it's awesome! " Tom exclaimed.

On the snow, in jagged, sluggish handwriting, were the names Tom and Danny, and beside it laid what you could barely make out as a crooked skull and crossbones. It was messily drawn, but dedication still evident throughout the whole thing. Tom loved it, and meant every word he said as bombarded Danny with polite compliments on the piece of carved artwork on the ground. They were still pirates after all. Well, nice pirates that complimented each other's masterpieces.

"So Danny? You still haven't answered my question."

"Oh, Sorry! What was it again?" Danny asked, putting his hands to the ground and trying to stand back up, struggling with the heavy bulk of snow gear his mum insisted him on wearing.

"Are you sure we're going the right way? We've been walking for ages." Tom groaned slightly, dragging out the last word.

"Of course I'm sure!" Danny laughed, jokingly giving Tom a 'you think I don't know what I'm doing? Who do you think you're talking to?' look.

Tom grabbed Danny's hand once again as he said "Okay," in a 'alright I'm going to trust you but this might not end well just saying but hey remember that this might not end well' tone, a perfect imitation of the exact same tone his mother uses on him when he demanded that he would take a shower later, or knew how to put on his heavy winter boots all by himself. Maybe it runs in the family.

Danny chuckled awkwardly at Tom's scarily mother-like tone while he gave Tom's hand a little squeeze of reassurance that he now wished he had.

"Well... let's carry on, shall we?"

**Helen Wood: Squealing muscles? I never knew of such a thing! Interesting name though. Pudd? Hmmm... You got the cogs in my storymaking mind working up now!**

**Neon Douche: I shall torture you with the cuteness! Let's just hope this chapter meets your cuteness expectations and needs. (P.S: How about that video on the forum huh? Freaking cute!)**

**corruptedPOV: Aww stop it! You're adorable! Hope you enjoy the story, or else I'm not a very good writer am I?**

**deeplyinloves: Yes! Disney!McFly is the way forward! To the R&R foruuuum! Hope the wait ain't too long! (P.S: Here's a cute fact about Disneyland Peter Pan Face Actors: The Peter Pan in Cali (Known as Spieling Peter I think) actually got married to his fellow friend / classmate who played Wendy in the same Disneyland in real life! .)**

**kbeto: Hell yeah! I can write adorable! *punk hand sign (?)* Dude, I wish I could pinch kid!McFly's cheeks. That's the dream now.**

**lozzigurl: True love baby, I dig it! And who doesn't see chocolate in brown eyes? Bet it made Danny hungry ;) (darn I shoulda added that in)**

**DANNYDANNYDANNY it's...Danmania? Bobble hats have to be mentioned! We must restore the world with the feeling of cute hats on innocent boys! PeterPan!Danny would be awesome! I think he looks rather fetching in any hat! And it to be Peter Pan's hat... oh my.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Props to Helen Wood for that review on chapter four. I took in your idea / suggestion and my mind came up with this. Hope this answers your question ;) I would recommend you not to go and see what she wrote before reading this chapter, unless you are a spoiler fueled person.**

**Song Of The Piece (I especially recommend you to read this with this song in playing, and check out the music video too): In Your Arms - Kina Grannis**

Bobble Hats & Sleds - Chapter 6

"Here... I think this is it!"

Danny gestured towards the boringly flat and slightly barren landscape, the only things making the word 'slightly' come before the word 'barren' were a few dead bushes and plants scattered around, a clearing visible in the vegetation, which seemed to be an opening to a much louder, ecstatic children and restless parents filled dimension. Also known as the more crowded side of the park, but that sounded less exciting.

"Danny... My sled is not here. I remember putting it near a big hill. That was where I was going to test it."

"Oh..." Danny frowned, but kept his expression faint.

"But you were close Danny! I remember I walked past here so it shouldn't be that far! You did really good Danny!" Tom exclaimed, trying to cheer his now decided best (a hard to snatch title) friend up.

Danny smiled, glad to see his new friend wanting him to be happy.

"Okay, we'll keep going then." Danny sniffled, still recovering from the sudden mood change.

"Yes! Let's go!" Tom smiled, taking lead as he familiarized himself with his surroundings.

~o~

"Hey Danny?" Tom said, a little concerned after still hearing a few worrying sniffles here and there.

"Yeah Tom?" Danny replied, looking up at his friend in front of him with his big blue eyes.

"You know, my dad likes to sing to me when I'm sad."

"Really?"

"It's a song, one that my cousin sings all the time. She likes the singer. You wanna hear it?"

"Okay." Danny rubbed his nose, trying to shake himself from the strange mood he was in. Danny? Being sad? Rare thing you see. But when it did happen, Danny always tried his best to snap out of it.

Tom cleared his throat, taking his singing very seriously as he began the chorus in his cute, child like voice.

"_This is just a journey,_

_Drop your worries._

_You are gonna turn out fine._

_Oh, you'll turn out fine._

_Fine, oh, you'll turn out fine._

_But you gotta keep your head up, oh,_

_And you can let your hair down, eh._

_you gotta keep your head up, oh,_

_And you can let your hair down, eh._"

Tom sang as perfectly as a kid his age could, his natural music talent shining through each note. Danny became wide eyed, and stood still to appreciate the beautiful music that filled his ears. That music was for him, Tom was singing for him. That music was for his ears, and his ears only. And that, made Danny's bad mood disappear from thin air. That made Danny happy.

"I-I don't know the whole song, that's the only bit I know." Tom stuttered right after he sang when he saw Danny's amazed face, a grin spread across his face, his eyes gaping in admiration.

"That was really good. Really good." Danny complimented, still in shock as he dragged out the word 'really'.

"Thanks!" Tom giggled, happy to see his best friend back to normal again.

"Maybe you could teach me the song too? We could sing it together!" Danny exclaimed.

"Okay, but we better start walking, I want my sled back!"

~o~

By the time the two reached the x on their imaginary treasure map, both of the little pirates could sing along to every single line Tom could remember. They sounded brilliant, might I say. They were at least brilliant enough to gain a fan. Or two.

Trailing the two pirates were fellow best friends Dougie and Harry, who both gained a liking towards the two miniature singers' confident and carefree attitude.

"We shouldn't be doing this Harry." Dougie whispered hesitantly, gripping the rope that was bound to the sled Harry owned, but was shared with Dougie for this particular outing.

The two had took on the stereotypical, cartoon like 'we're stalking some people and watching them from afar, behind a tree' pose, with Dougie's head on the bottom and Harry's on top.

"Well you were the one who didn't want to talk to them!" Harry whispered back, scratching the back of head, itchy from the damp fabric from his old (and coincidentally) bobble hat.

"I don't want to disturb them!"

"Is that another way of saying you're too shy to talk to them?"

"Yes." Dougie huffed in defeat, feeling ashamed. Harry saw this in his friend and let go of the tree they latched onto to envelop him in a big hug. Dougie held him as tightly as he could with one arm, his other hand still grasping the rope that secured the presence of Harry's sled.

"You want to talk to them?"

"Yeah, I wish I was their friend."

Harry let go of Dougie and gave him a brotherly look. "Then I'll talk to them."

Dougie's jaw dropped. "Really! You're gonna do that?"

Harry grinned. "Yeah! Why not! We might have some new friends!"

Dougie smiled, proud of his brave friend. Dougie knew that he had to be brave too.

"Then I'll go with you too!"

"Really?" Harry questioned, surprised.

"Yeah! I wanna do it!"

"Okay, come on!" Harry grabbed Dougie's free hand and dragged him towards the two boys they admired oh so much.

They stood close enough to have easily grabbed them and ran (but I'm pretty sure that's not what you do when you want to make new friends). Harry turned his head to look at his best friend, who seemed to be doing fine, despite his shy exterior.

Harry decided to be the brave one of the two and make the first move. He reached out and tapped the brown haired boy in front of him on the shoulder. Dougie instinctively followed, tapping the blonde boy in front of him on the shoulder too.

The two boys caught the newcomers off guard as they both turned around at the same time, a smile quickly appearing on both of their faces when seeing possible candidates for friends in front of them.

Harry's eyes widened in panic, but to his astonishment, his quiet companion came to his rescue.

"Hi... I'm Dougie, and this is my best friend Harry."

Dougie quickly looked around, trying to find something to talk about. He didn't want the two boys to think he was some boring person who only knew his best friend and his own names! Dougie's eyes scanned his surrounding to find a sled, right behind the two singers. An idea sparked into his mind.

"I like your sled. We have a sled too. Wanna race?"

**A/N: If you'd like to know, the song Tom and Danny were singing is called Keep Your Head Up by Andy Grammer. See if you can find a reference I put up there. Hint: From one of my favourite interviews with the boys - they were talking about tapas.**

**lozzigurl: Hah, that's the kinda thing Danny would do huh? Just wander around, daydreaming. I can just imagine it!**

**kbeto: Short attention spans are kinda my thing! Do you know how long it took for me to convince myself to buckle down and write this chapter, despite all the lovely reviews urging me to update? Harder than you think. But I always end up ****satisfying ****myself after it's done and dusted. Worth it!**


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